Lewis Hamilton is seeking improvement to the “rear end” of his Mercedes, having finished fourth at 2023 Belgian Grand Prix.
Hamilton started third on the grid but lost position to eventual winner, Max Verstappen on lap six on the Kemmel Straight, although he ultimately found himself settling for fourth to the checkered flag on his two-stop strategy but took the bonus point for the fastest lap on the final race.
Speaking after the race Hamilton described his drive as “non-eventful” after he found himself “unable to keep up with the cars ahead of me and was struggling in the beginning.”
On achieving the fastest lap, Hamilton quipped: “It was nice to have the gap to the car behind and to attempt to go for the fastest lap. It was gusty out there today and difficult to keep it on the track, but my lap was decent.”
The seven-time champion however iterated that the rear of his Mercedes needs work as he commented: “We know the rear end is our biggest issue and then we had some bouncing this weekend.
“We know we have more work to do to close the gap to the front. We’ll work with all the data we’ve accumulated and try to figure out what we can do for the next race after the summer break.”
Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director, Andrew Shovlin added that Hamilton’s lack of pace compared to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc “limited” his strategy options other than snatching the fastest lap on the final lap.
Team Principal, Toto Wolff meanwhile revealed that “bouncing” was his biggest concern heading into the summer break, after struggling with the car’s stability at times.
Wolff however is confident that Mercedes “are on the right trajectory” with their upgrades, as he explained: “There is so much hard work going across the Team to upgrade the car and help us to make those important steps forward.
“I believe we are making progress and the direction we are going in is the right one.”